In addition, it includes 30 recent, additional, Committee and Member requests which will require us to use 142 staff years in FY 1979. These are listed on Attachment 2.

The 172 staff years required by new legislation and Committee reports referred to by the question; the 84 staff years required by legislation and Committee reports in addition to those referred to by the question; and the 142 staff years from additional congressional requests comprise the 398 staff year additional workload on which our requests for supplemental FY 1979 funding is based.

The 449 staff years referred to by the question is a derived figure. It is not significant to the additional workload on which our request for resources is based either in FY 1979 or FY 1980. That figure includes, for example, 57 staff years to be used in FY 1979 and in FY 1980 for work of a Special Task Force for the Prevention of Fraud and Abuse. The work of that Task Force is a significant part of GAO's regular and continuing audit responsibilities.

We are not asking for additional resources to fund the work of that Task Force. However, I must add we had to do some

considerable readjusting to bring together the staff to carry out this important assignment.

FY 1980 WORKLOAD INCREASES

The 350 staff years referred to by the question is that which is required in FY 1980 to meet workload resulting from Congressional actions occuring since January 1978--when we made our last appropriation request. It includes the FY 1980 workload impact of those acts and Committee reports, referred to by the question as follows:

It also includes 103 staff years to meet the additional FY 1980 workload requirements of requests of Congressional Committees and Members.

Planning, as we are, for Committee and Member requests to increase by 103 staff years in FY 1980 is a conservative

assessment.

In all likelihood, the increase in requirements for work in FY 1980--over FY 1979 levels--imposed by Committee and Member requests will exceed this amount. The increase of 103 staff years for work under Committee and Member requests constitutes only a 7 percent increase over FY 1979 levels. Using FY 1971 as a base, resources required to fulfill Committee and Member requests have increased by more than 7 percent in all but one year. The average increase for the period from FY 1971 through FY 1978 has been 15.5 percent. The 212 staff years required by new legislation and Committee reports referred to by the question; the 35 staff years required by legislation and Committee reports in addition to those referred to by the question; and the 103 staff years that will be required in FY 1980 to meet Committee and Member requests--above FY 1979 levels--in total comprise the 350 additional staff years of workload for which we are requesting resources in FY 1980.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FY 1979 AND FY 1980 WORKLOAD INCREASES

Most of this new legislation and Committee reports increase GAO workload in both FY 1979 and in FY 1980. But for much

of it, the staff year impact differs between those two years. Some will be worked on and completed in FY 1979 and will have no impact on FY 1980 staffing requirements.

Many will

continue to require significant work in FY 1980 and will

need to be staffed in that year also.

There are a few con

gressional actions that we now know of which will require no work (or staff) in FY 1979 but will need to be performed in FY 1980. This relationship between the two years is pointed up by the.attached. It lists the workload impact of new legislation and Committee reports that we now know about. We know that FY 1980 additional workload requirements are understated in that they do not include provision for new legislation which will impact on that year, even though it is a virtual certainty that there will be substantial new legislative requirements.

PLANS TO MEET ADDITIONAL WORKLOAD

The additional workload that will need to be accommodated either by obtaining additional resources, by reprogramming, by assignment deferrals or by management improvements, totals 398 staff years in FY 1979 and 350 staff years in FY 1980.

Our plans are to use all of these approaches.

Plans for FY 1979

For FY 1979, the 398 staff years that we will need to apply to requirements resulting from new Congressional actions will largely be met by reprogramming from work that we would otherwise do under our continuing responsibilities. We are requesting only 82 additional staff years as a supplemental appropriation for FY 1979--leaving us 316 staff years short